start here. this is a great site for the basics about light therapy for for a variety of different treatments. I use the dawn light simulator http://sunraintime.com/ and it broke my depression in 5 days. ymmv

Many sources for light-therapy boxes. Every so often I will google "10,000 lux light therapy," as I am a psychiatrist and recommend light therapy for patients with some regularity in the Fall and Winter. What I generally recommend and what I use when I want that morning hormonal cascade bright light brings, is simple and cheap: A single or twin 500 watt halogen work-light, placed by the bed at an appropriate distance, on a timer and used as the morning alarm, then left on in your proximity for about 20 minutes. I know of no light that mimics the sun more closely, is more than bright enough and feels like you're at the beach on a sunny day. Treat with respect.

I'd been looking for one for quite a while, all along being shocked at the price and footprint of them. My husband found this one on Amazon and bought it for me. I've been very pleased. Good price, small footprint, seems to work. This is the happiest I've been through the winter solstice in quite some time.

I am very happy with the Phillips GoLite Blu, which I purchased from Costco. Opinions seem to vary whether the spectrum of the lamp matters, or whether it is simply the amount of light.

www.fullspectrumsolutions.com carries some ridiculously overpriced lamps, in my opinion, but the hidden gem in the site is another, less expensive alternative - very bright 4 ft fluorescent tubes with high color rendering index. This can be much less expensive, especially if you already have a fixture (shop light or other, ideally 4 tube capacity). Example 1 and 2. I have these in my office and I am very happy. They feel very bright (in comparison, my 300 watt halogen torchiere seems like a flashlight with dying batteries), and any lack of brightness (relative to a dedicated lamp) is offset by the fact that they are on all day.

One thing I have become aware of (through the GoLite manual) is the idea of being careful when you use them... I try to switch over to my halogen lamp around 4pm because I feel like the intense brightness of the daylight balanced lamps would confuse my brain if I left them on until six or six-thirty pm, potentially mucking up my bedtime.

A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted.